


The Bold, The Wild and The Brave

by MidknightMarauder



Category: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:32:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23615275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidknightMarauder/pseuds/MidknightMarauder
Summary: Bold Gurjin has proven to be strong and brave... but can he handle the unexpected when he takes on two wild and curious childings?
Relationships: Brea/Kylan (Dark Crystal), Deet/Rian (Dark Crystal)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	The Bold, The Wild and The Brave

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU for after the war... in this story Kira is the daughter of Kylan and Brea, and Jen is the son of Rian and Deet! I've not written for Gurjin before so this is all new once again! :D

The Bold, The Wild and The Brave 

The journey to Sami Thicket was one he often enjoyed. He enjoyed the new change of pace. It felt more relaxed, as if time was slower here. You could spend enough time marvelling at the plains, meeting friends and joining in with merry making. He’d enjoyed his visits during war despite all that was happening. The food, the drinks, the music and time just to watch the world go by. 

However, his journey would not bring him to Sami Thicket itself just yet, for his location lay just on the outskirts of the Spriton homestead. If he didn’t know what he was looking for, he’d probably have missed it. The familiar sight of smoke coming from behind a hill. Already, he was thinking of what spoils they would have for him. He followed a stepping stone path around the hill, lifting his hand to his forehead to cover his eyes from the suns. He grinned when he saw it. 

Behind the hill, was a hut. A home. It was almost covered in vines which sprouted lush green leaves and white flowers with a golden trim. There was a garden in the front of the house, filled with blooming flowers of various colours. As he ventured through the front garden, he saw the beginnings of beds being made, most likely for all sorts of vegetables and fruits. In the distance, he heard the soft trickling of a stream, and the numerous sounds of the creatures of Thra. This home was thriving with life. 

He took a deep breath, and released with a sigh of content. What a wonderful, warm, welcoming home. 

Crash. 

The sound of something breaking from inside the hut made him break from his inner peace and wince. That didn’t sound good. As he walked closer, he could hear the soft voice of another coming from inside. 

“There goes another plate…” the voice seemed tired, worn. But he had no doubt it was the voice of the song teller. This was his home after all. 

He decided to wait for a moment, when no more sounds of crashing came, he knocked on the door. He heard a couple of little laughs from inside, followed by a few hushed whispers by the song teller. 

“Just a moment!” he called from inside, before eventually the song teller opened the door. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sun. Then he recognised him and blinked, shocked, before finally greeting his guest. 

“Gurjin!” 

“Kylan!” the large Drenchen wrapped his arms around his friend. The pair of them chuckled as they pulled apart, Kylan looking especially happy.   
“I did not know you were coming, please come in.” Kylan gestured for him to come inside the hut. 

Gurjin had to lower himself slightly as he ducked through the door. He was hit with the scent of herbs and something cooking. Something delicious. 

“No, No, I thought I’d drop by before I go back to the Sog” he grinned, looking around at the not so tidy home. Odd. That wasn’t like Kylan and Brea. “Thought I’d come and see my favourite Spriton and Vapran couple” he laughed and turned to look at Kylan. It was when he really saw Kylan’s face. 

He looked awful. His skin was pale, and his eyelids were droopy. He could hear the stuffiness from his nose and a slight wheeze when he breathed out. Kylan looked like he needed a good sleep. He had not seen his friend look so exhausted before. “Woah, Kylan you do not look good.” 

Even now, Kylan looked distracted, as his friend spoke to him but his attention remained somewhere else. “Oh, it’s probably just a seasona-” he quickly snatched a cloth from his sleeve and blew into it. Gurjin made a slight wince from how snotty it sounded, but made no comment. 

“You look like you're going to faint Kylan, why don’t you just go lay down? That’s what cures me, a day in bed and plenty of hot swamp stew” his mouth watered at the thought of a bowl of swamp stew, especially his mother’s own recipe. 

Kylan releases a soft sigh, “I wish I could, but…” he nods in the direction of a table in the seating room. “I have my hands full…” he smiles softly. 

Gurjin glances from Kylan to the table, before taking it upon himself to investigate what his friend meant. The table was low, and it appeared hollow in the middle. A cloth was overhanging; shielding whatever would be under the table. He could hear the faint sound of giggling, followed by a more forceful ‘shush’. 

Gurjin smirked as he crept over toward the table just in front of the hearth. As he neared, he could hear the giggles increase. His grin grew when he saw two pairs of toes poking out from under the cloth. Despite his larger build, Gurjin knew how to be quiet, sneaking up on the other side of the table and gently grabbing the corner of the cloth. He counted to 3 in his head, before pulling the cloth from the table and following with a loud roar. 

He was rewarded with two squeals followed by infectious giggles as out from the table came two childlings. One of the childling’s was taller, with dark hair that came down just above his shoulders. The dark haired boy looked up at him with his wide soft blue eyes that were filled with delight at the familiar sight of Gurjin. 

“Gurjin!” The boy, named Jen, cheered and ran as fast as he could with his little legs over to his uncle figure. 

Gurjin looked down at him as the childling reached up with his little hands. They opened and closed, and he made a slight grunt noise, impatiently waiting for him to pick him up. “Hello lil scallywag” Gurjin grinned and gave in to the childling’s demand. He lifted Jen up in his arms, and titled his head “What are you doing here? This isn’t your home” he softly poked the youngling’s tummy, before putting him back down. 

“Deet and Rian are on a visit to Maudra Mera, Brea went with them. I offered to stay and man the fort” Kylan shuffled over to the seating room, slowly easing down onto one of the more comfy looking chairs by the fire. He really didn’t look well, but Gurjin knew Kylan wouldn’t let his own sickness stop him, not when it came to… 

Gurjin stopped, realising he had only been greeted by one childing. He looked to Jen, whose attention was now on the small wooden sword he must have left before darting under the table. That’s one childling… now where is… 

“Boo!” a small but loud voice rang through his ear, and he jumped back. Looking over his shoulder, he saw her. She was smaller than Jen, a little younger. Her hair was a silvery wave running down her back. She had a small braid on one side of her head and… was that a twig in her hair? She giggled, her light brown eyes danced with playfulness. How did she get up on his shoulder without him realising? 

Gurjin is quick to lift her in his arms before she could slide off. He brings her tummy to his face with a chuckle “Oh no, a face hugger”. The little girl wriggles in his hands, knowing what is about to come. Gurjin nuzzles his face in her tummy, earning himself plenty of giggles followed by a loud squeal as he blows raspberries into her tummy. 

Torture finished. He places her down on the ground, noticing the little one’s lack of shoes which he guessed was becoming a thing. “So you really were left to man the fort with these two” Gurjin turned to his friend, who had closed his eyes for a brief moment. 

“Baba” the little silverling, named Kira, waddled over to her father who had come to when he heard her small voice. Kylan gave the little one a small smile, and patted her head when she stopped herself on the side of his chair. 

“Sorry Kira, Baba hasn’t been much fun has he?” Kylan gave an apology to the little one who just blinked up at him before she turned to find what Jen was up to. More likely to try and take whatever it was he had in his hand. 

“Come on Kylan, you need to rest, you have snot running down your nose” Gurjin nodded to the cloth, “You might end up like that SkekLach” 

“Thanks…” came Kylan’s sarcastic response but he didn’t have enough time to say anything else as another sneeze came along. “Oh snaps…” he wipes his nose with the cloth before looking over to the childlings in his care “I’ll rest once the others come back, shouldn’t be too long” 

Gurjin gave his friend another sympathetic look, before looking over to where the little ones had gone. Jen was playing with some little wooden figures and animals that Rian had whittled for him. Gurjin couldn’t make out who the figures were, but he could see a small landstrider and a couple of fizzgigs. Kira was sitting just to the side of him, blowing into a small firca Kylan must have made for her. It was a constant dull tone that must have been bellowing in Jen’s ears. He was surprised Jen could even carry on playing with the racket Kira was making just behind him. 

He felt sorry for Kylan. He was on childling duty, and he’d been around these two little ones plenty of times to know they could be quite a handful themselves let alone together. But… surely the pair of them wouldn’t be too much hard for a couple of hours? Childlings normally just… play, eat and sleep don’t they? Didn’t seem too different from himself these days. 

“How bout I watch the rascals for a bit? You need to rest up” Gurjin offered, he was the cool uncle Gurjin in their eyes after all. 

“Oh… Gurjin thanks but I think the pair of them might be...well…” Kylan stood, his face showed gratitude but he also didn’t want to assume he was the one imposing. “I’m fine really” he began to explain, but Gurjin was having none of it. 

“Listen” Gurjin patted his friend on the back, not realising his own strength and nearly sending poor Kylan off his feet. “You’re no good to them in this state” he began to steer Kylan towards the door to his and Brea’s bedroom, all the while using sweet words to soften his friend up enough to listen to him “I’ll take them outside, play, we can eat and then getting ready for bed, you have nothing to worry about” 

Kylan was beginning to see sense, but of course he couldn’t stop his glances over to little ones and inform Gurjin of the responsibilities to the children he had. 

“I got it, Uncle Gurjin is on the case. You rest up” once he finally got Kylan to the door of his room, he stopped. 

Kylan turned to him “Alright… I guess just a few hours wouldn’t hurt…” he didn’t seem convinced, but there was no budging the stubborn drenchhen on this. “You’ll wake me if anything happens…” 

Gurjin patted his shoulder “Relax, they’ll be fine! They love playing with uncle Gurjin” he gave his friend a confident grin. “What could go wrong?” 

_________________________________________________________________________ 

Mistake number 1 

How could he forget this… Brea would constantly complain about this whenever they met. He was so caught up in encouraging Kylan to rest that he forgot the one thing that would drive her mad. 

Kira doesn’t wear shoes. 

After Kylan eventually agreed to rest once he gave Gurjin a few pointers about the little ones, Gurjin decided he’d take the little ones outside. Jen and Kira loved being outside, playing in the mud and exploring the garden. It was because of this, Gurjin tried to put some shoes on Kira. This did not go down well… 

Kira kicked and wriggled about. If he got one shoe on, she would kick it straight off “no shoe!” she would stamp. Her little grunts were becoming small screams of frustration. Now he knew what Brea was talking about. “hush Kira, baba sleeping” he tried to calm her down, but even the mention of Kylan didn’t seem to affect Kira’s outburst. Poor Jen was waiting by the door, watching the pair wrestling over shoes. 

It took a kick in the nose till Gurjin finally tossed the little shoes away “Alright, Alright little madam, you win!” he held his hands up, panting slightly. Kira’s face was triumphant as she giggled and padded over to the door where Jen was waiting. 

“Alright Gurjin… minor set back, but we’re okay” he told himself as he got up from his knee and walked to the door. Jen was attempting to reach the door handle, pushing himself high on his little toes. 

“Nice try little man” Gurjin grinned down at the little boy, before grabbing the handle himself and twisting it open. He had never seen the pair of them move so quick, they reminded him of the crawlies back at the castle. In the blink of an eye you’d miss them. Even though Kira hadn’t long learned to walk, she still attempted to keep up with Jen who was a bit older and more confident on his feet. They ran over to the flower beds, exploring the variety of colours and smells they could sense. 

“See… not bad, they’ll be busy for a while” he spoke to himself, watching the pair of them.   
He perched himself down on one of the wooden stools just outside the door. Their attention was focused on the flowers, well… Jen was focused on the flowers whilst Kira tugged along holding onto the back of Jen’s knitted shirt. He smiled as the pair found and chased a little flying insect around. 

“Not bad at all… “ 

Mistake Number 2 

Of course he knew there was going to be mud. He wouldn’t mind wiping the mud of their shoes… or in Kira’s case feet, but he wasn’t ready for what he found next. He’d let them play in the flower beds and shrubs, but they had been quiet for a while. Too quiet. 

Gurjin wasted no time, stepping as carefully as he could around the flowers and shrubs as not to squash them. He eventually found them… and the muddy puddle they had found. Well it was more like a mud bath. The pair of them were sitting in the mud which covered their laps. They were taking it in turns to use the mud to draw on themselves… and each other. Whenever they moved slightly the mud would squelch underneath them, which only made them giggle more. 

Gurjin let out a groan as he watched the pair for a moment. They were covered, head to toe. How was he supposed to get them inside and clean them up? Could he clean them up? There was mud everywhere! He didn’t know where to start. What made matters worse was when they finally realised he was there, they turned to him with proud smiles. 

“You little rascals!” he scowled and tried his best to look cross… this only made them laugh more. “Right, bathtime it is!” his eyes locked onto them. Then he noticed the look in Jen’s eyes… oh no...

Mistake Number 3 

Like Kira with her shoes… Jen took issue with baths. Even just from uttering the word, Jen was the first to take off, slipping in between Gurjin’s legs and running towards the hut. Kira followed soon after, but she was a lot slower this time, the added weight of the mud on her clothes made it tricky to run. 

Unlucky for her. Gurjin scooped her up under his arm, and took off to find Jen. Mud was slipping off the little one under his arm and it made it hard to keep hold of her. But he knew if he let this one out, he’d need to catch two of them. 

Gurjin followed the tiny footprints in the ground leading to the house. He slowed, and took a deep breath. He needed to remain calm. He tracked the footprints inside, and quickly closed the door behind him. He looked around. No sign of Jen, except from the prints. 

“Jen…?” he called in a higher softer voice he’d heard Deet use “Jenny Jen Jen” he called, slowly following the prints on the floor. “I was joking about the bath…” he winced, seeing how the muddy footprints were pretty much scattered everywhere in the seating room. Sorry Kylan… he thought to himself. He saw it then, the top of a muddy head poking out behind the arm of Kylan’s chair. Gotcha. 

His approach is slow, quiet, careful… as if he was tracking a wild animal. He attempts to take him by surprise. He’s close… just around the corner and… 

“Boo!” Kira shouts as they turn the corner, playing a game he wasn’t aware they were playing. Jen turned, his eyes widened at the sight of them and bolted. Gurjin didn’t have time to scowl at Kira, as he darted after the muddy childling “Get back here!”. 

After a few rounds of running and climbing over tables and chairs, he finally caught the little muddy childling in his other arm. He was out of breath, tired and worn out, but he needed to be quick before the pair of them made another run for it. He eventually found the bathing room, being sure to close and barricade the door with a cabinet, not taking any chances for Jen to cause more mess in another escape. 

“Okay… bath… water… and clothes” Gurjin mumbled to himself as he started to fill the wooden tub with water from the small well by the side of the room. Jen at this point was sat on the ground, tears running down his face in a sorry look of defeat. Kira on the other hand had already shrugged off the small dress she was wearing and began jumping in delight. At least one childling liked the idea of a bath. Gurjin couldn’t help but laugh at the little silverling “Now this is a proper bath, not a mud bath”. 

Kira was easy to put in the bath, and already she was splashing about and let out a shrill of excitement. Now it was time for Jen. Gurjin couldn’t help but feel sorry for the little one, tears streaming down his eyes but made no sound. The little boy knew the bath was coming, but he still didn’t like it. Gurjin kneeled down, and reached over to wipe the tears from Jen’s muddy cheeks which smudged under his thumb. 

“Hmm… I’m pretty sure I remember a brave boy somewhere under all this mud” Gurjin grinned down as Jen’s attention turned from the bath to him. “I wonder where he has gone?” he tapped his chin, playing oblivious “Where has the boy gone Kira? Where is he?”, he uses his hands to exaggerate and scratches his head. 

At the mention of her name, Kira looks over, laughing at Gurjin’s playful antics and points to Jen. 

“Where? I don’t see him?” Gurjin looks around. 

Jen’s lips begin to turn upward into a smile, watching his uncle pretend to search for him. 

“Jen Jen!” Kira points, leaning over the tub and patting Gurjin’s head with her other hand. 

“Hm? I don’t see a Jen Jen” Gurjin continued, smiling as the two of them became overly amused. 

Jen got to his feet, pointing at his chest in a proud manner “Me Uncle Gurjin! Jen!” he laughed when Gurjin rubbed his eyes and leaned closer. 

“There you are! I didn’t see you with all that mud! How’s about we get all that mud off the brave Jen?” Grujin smiled, hoping his little childish play would distract Jen enough to want to get into the bath. 

Jen leaned forward and rolled his baggy top off his shoulders and moved onto kicking off his trousers and pants. Jen’s tearful face was now determined. Gurjin didn’t want to take any chances for Jen to have second thoughts, so he picked up the little one and plopped him in the bath. 

Once Jen got in, he began to rub the mud off his arms and would show Gurjin of his progress. The two of them would splash at one another, blow bubbles in the water and even tag teamed to splash water at Grujin who retaliated by downing the two with more water from the well. The pair giggled as the water made their hair stick to their faces. ‘What a crazy pair they make’… he’d thought to himself as he helped clean the mud from their ears and face. 

_________________________________________________________________________

With bath-time successful, Gurjin was feeling a little more confident than he had been following the mud incident. He’d been able to find some clean clothes from Kira’s room to fit the little ones in. Kylan had mentioned food he’d prepared that morning for the both of them, so Gurjin seated both of them down and gave them bowls of Kylan’s home made grub. To no surprise, the pair of them gobbled it down, missing their mouths at times. Gurjin didn’t mind cleaning up though, their smiles and laughter were contagious and he found himself becoming pleasantly relaxed. 

It wasn’t like being in the guard. It wasn’t about control or routine, it was mostly following their lead and expecting the unexpected. He didn’t mind being kept on his toes if it meant seeing their bright faces filled with delight. He listened to them babble to one another, trying to make out as many words as he could. Jen was the most talkative at the moment, and the most he could make sense of. The young childling was trying to recall a story, but the only words he made out were ‘big’, ‘mud’ and ‘mama’. He’d have to ask Deet what he was on about the next time he spoke to her. 

After they’d finished their bowls, Gurjin thought it’d be best to continue playing inside from now on. He couldn’t help but wince everytime he looked at the seating room, and the many muddy footprints all around the furniture. He’d clean it a bit later, once the little ones were asleep. 

He carried the pair of them into Kira’s room, and there they remained the rest of their time together. Gurjin brought out his inner child. He’d used some of Kira’s blankets to make them all a den. Jen and Kira were absolutely thrilled with their new hideaway. Here, they had a picnic, hid away from a storm, defended the den from pretend Skeksis and ruled over Thra. He hadn’t played such games since he was a childling. He and Naia would pretend to be brave warriors, the greatest warriors in all of Sog. They would be warriors one day, and then explorers the next. Just from playing with the two little ones, brought his memories of home. Of himself and his family. Family… what a wonderful thing it was… 

He glanced down to the pair of them on his lap, taking it in turns to look through the pages of one of Kira’s books. Jen would point to what he saw and say it out loud. Kira would try her best to copy what he said, but Jen was kind enough to repeat it for her. He continued to watch them for a while. Even in the short times he had seen them both, he knew they were so different from one another even at this age. He could see features of his friends in them, their mannerisms and personality traits were similar to their parents and yet completely their own. They had their families. They’d all been through so much. They’d survived and defeated the Skeksis so that they may build a new future for themselves. And that future was sitting on his lap… a future they all fought for. To be free to live their lives, to protect and cherish Thra and watch their children grow in a world of peace. 

What would a family of his own look like? Would he ever meet another to spend the rest of his life in this new world together? Would they ever have childlings of their own? The idea of a family of his own warmed his heart. A home to go back to, where his family would be waiting… yeah… that didn’t sound bad at all… 

_________________________________________________________________________  
Kylan’s p.o.v

It was late afternoon by the time he woke up. The light from the low suns seeped in through the window, and roused him up. He still felt a bit achy and clogged up, but he had to admit that sleep did make him feel a lot better than he was. Kylan sat up, stretching his arms up and releasing a sleepy yawn. He sat on the bed for a moment, his mind still shaking away the last remnants of sleep. 

Then, as if his brain had suddenly been switched on, he jumped in a panic, falling out of the bed. He landed with a thud, followed by a soft “ow…” as he rubbed his side whilst getting to his feet. How long had he been asleep? What time was it? Where was Kira and Jen? 

Kylan rushed to the door, and he jumped back in alarm at the sight of his seating room. He took slow steps out from his bedroom to investigate. “What on Thra…?” he questioned to himself as he looked at the state of the room. Small tables and chairs were knocked over, there was water on the rug and… are those muddy footprints? 

There was no sign of Gurjin or the childlings… but they’d left evidence of where they had been. He sighed to himself, this would be another job to do before the others got home. Shouldn’t be too long now. Since they were not in the seating room, he checked to see if they were in the garden. Looking out of the window, there was still no sign. Odd… he thought to himself. There was plenty of mud inside, he assumed they would still be playing. 

Eventually he found them. Opening the door to Kira’s room, he saw what looked to be a small den made of blankets. He cocked his head to the side as he approached, quietly moving one of the overhanging blankets which he assumed was the ‘door’ over the top of the den. The sight before him made his heart melt and his lips turn up into a smile. “You big softie…” he uttered. 

All three of them were asleep. Gurjin was laid down, with the two little ones snuggled up to him on each side. He had his arms around each of them, as all three softly snored in peace. Kylan forgot about the mess, as he thanked his friend inwardly for all his help. He certainly lived up to his title of the great uncle Gurjin. Kylan knew he was truly blessed to have such a kind and selfless friend. 

Carefully, Kylan reached up and took the blanket he’d moved earlier and gently placed it over the three of them. He smiled when they continued to sleep undisturbed, they must all be tired and worn out. Soon, they’d be up again and the play would continue. But for now, let them sleep. Kylan gave one last glance in their direction... before closing the door.


End file.
